Distinguished Alumni Felicitated at the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations at IIT Kanpur

- Around 100 alumni from India and overseas participate in the festivities

- Foundation stone laid for Mehta Family Centre for Engineering in Medicine

- Outstanding former students feted for professional, entrepreneurship and academic excellence

KANPUR, India, Nov. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IIT Kanpur, one of the first Indian Institutes of Technology and a globally acclaimed Institute of National Importance, successfully completed 60 years on 2^nd November, 2019.

A special event was held to mark the completion of the institute's diamond jubilee where several distinguished alumni including Chief Economic Advisor Government of India Prof. Krishnamurthy Subramaniam, Union Defence Secretary Mr. Ajay Kumar were felicitated in the presence of Hon'ble Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'. 

On the occasion the minister laid the foundation stone of Mehta Family Centre for Engineering in Medicine. An MoU for the same was signed on 1st November, 2019 between Dr Abhay Karandikar, Director IIT Kanpur and Mr Rahul Mehta, Founder Mehta Family Foundation. The research focus of the proposed centre would be on Regenerative Medicine, Molecular Medicine and Engineering, and Digital Medicine.

The celebrations were attended by the present students as well as around hundred alumni from India and overseas. Also present on the occasion were Prof. Sandeep Verma, Secretary, SERB, Government of India and Mr. Rahul Mehta, Founder, The Mehta Family Foundation.

On the occasion, distinguished alumni were felicitated for academic excellence, professional excellence and entrepreneurship excellence. For Academic Excellence, the awardees are Prof. Shankar Subramanian, Chair and Professor of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego (1982), Prof. Nitash P. Balsara  Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Charles W. Tobias Professor in Electrochemistry, Berkeley College of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley (1982), Prof. Ajeet Rohatgi  Regents' Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology  (1971) and Prof. Rajesh Gopakumar Centre Director, ICTS-Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (1992).

Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, Prof. Krishnamurthy Subramanian (1994), Defence Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar (1984) and Senior Vice President, Cloud and Cognitive Software, IBM, New York, Dr. Arvind Krishna (1985), Member Lokpal of India Mr. Dinesh Kumar Jain (1981/1983) and Co-founder and Chairman of Sagacito Technologies Mr. Ravindra Kumar Dhariwal (1975) were awarded for professional excellence while for Entrepreneurship Excellence awards were given to Mr. Ajeet Singh Co-founder and Executive Chairman, ThoughtSpot) (1997), Mr. Arun Seth  Trustee, Nasscom Foundation, Chairman & Co-founder, Global Groupware Solutions and former Chairman of British Telecom  (1973) and Mr. Pravin Bhagwat Founder & CTO Mojo Networks (1990).

Mr. Vikas Vaibhav (IPS), DIG, Eastern Range, Bhagalpur Bihar (2001) was awarded the Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award. Mr. Rakesh Sharma an Independent Financial consultant (1978), Dr. Ram B. Misra, Professor at the Montclair State University (1968) were awarded with the distinguished services award while the Young Alumnus Award went to Mr. Deepak Garg, (Founder and CEO, Rivigo (2003) and Dr. Manu Prakash, Associate Professor, Stanford University (2002). Institute Fellows Prof. Kripa Shankar, Prof Mohini Mullick, and Prof Madhira Madhav were also felicitated on the occasion.

Hon'ble Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said, "At the outset, I would like to congratulate all those associated with IIT Kanpur, both past and present, students, faculty and other officials for leaving no stone unturned in striving hard in creating a world-class institution. I congratulate all the awardees for their outstanding contribution in their respective fields. Our aim is to ensure IIT Kanpur is amongst the best institutes in the world for which the ministry will provide full support. This is my first visit here and I will come back as the infrastructure and facilities here have caught my attention."

Professor Abhay Karandikar, Director IIT Kanpur said, "We would like to thank all those who have been with us throughout this wonderful journey and strived hard in reaching the institute to great heights. Our alumni have made us proud with their achievements across various genres. We are also thankful for the government's support and look for their continuing encouragement in the future. At IIT Kanpur we have an exciting road ahead with some ambitious plans on the anvil-like the Mehta Family Foundation Centre for Engineering in Medicine, the Techno Park and the Defence Aerospace Park in association with the Uttar Pradesh."

Rahul Mehta of the Mehta Family Foundation said, "We are happy to be associated with IIT Kanpur who have been pioneers in science based curriculum in engineering with many firsts to its credit. This centre will give rise to a new field that will be the forefront of the way healthcare will be practice in the 21^st century. Mehta Family Foundation's vision is to provide new opportunities for students in India in frontier fields to enable economic prosperity for everyone."

Established in 1959, the IIT Kanpur is one of the most prestigious institutes in the country. With the best research infrastructure and state-of-the-art facilities, it encourages students to innovate using technology and approach education with a problem- solving attitude. It was set up with a vision to 'To create, disseminate and translate knowledge in science, engineering and allied disciplines that will best serve the society' and the recognition that the institute has garnered as a major centre of learning in Engineering, Science and several Inter-disciplinary Areas is testament to the success of this vision.

At present there are over 7500 students pursuing their education across various disciplines. The verdant campus is spread across 1055 acres with 108 buildings housing students and staff. The institute strongly believes in research across various disciplines. The faculty members at IIT Kanpur have been recipients of several national and international awards including Padma Shri, Infosys Prize, Humboldt Research Award, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, TWAS Prize, National J.C. Bose Fellowship, Fulkerson Prize, Goedel Prize, National Academy of Sciences (NASc), Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Indian Academy of Science (FASc), Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), and the Swaranajayanti Fellowship.

About IIT Kanpur :

IIT Kanpur, one of the first Indian Institutes of Technology and a globally acclaimed Institute of National Importance was established in 1960 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. Since its inception it has remained at the forefront of teaching and research and has firmly established itself as an academic institute of high repute both nationally and internationally. The Institute has pioneered a paradigm of science-based engineering education that has been successfully adopted and implemented over time, and emulated by many institutions across the country. Its alumni have received accolades for their outstanding contributions in academia, industry, research labs, and also in diverse arenas of public administration and civil society. IIT Kanpur is a vibrant creative hub, comprising the very best in terms of academic research and outreach practices with a potential to create a global impact, yet firmly connected to the national agenda of development.